Wednesday, 19 April 2017

This is one of the earliest Heuer 844 Quartz I have seen. The serial number is in the low 3000. Mine own Heuer 844 Quartz is in the 7000s.

Early Heuer 844 Quartz from 1978. Bought in Los Angeles that year by Barry.

The watch belongs to Classic Heuer reader Barry from the USA. He wrote to me after reading about the restoration prosess of my Heuer 844 Quartz.

- I purchased the watch new in the 1970s in Los Angels. I still wear it, it's a beautiful watch. It may be one of the first one Heuer diver ever sold. The dial is not even marked "France". The case back is marked 844, even though it is a quartz, Barry says.

- She's alive and running, that's amazing after all these years. I think I bougth this watch in 1978, probably in December, as I was in Los Angeles at that time.

- It was oh so cool to have a quartz watch at that time, he remembers.

Barry was learning to navigate with sextant at that time, and he tells that the Heuer 844 was more than accurate enougth to use for navigation.

The watch has some interesting features like a dial with the usual red 1-24 markings and cathedral hands. The wrinting is in french as normal, but the dial is not mrked "Made in France" at the bottom as usual.
The case back is marked "844" and the word "Quartz". Mine 844 Quartz is not marked quartz, but has "Made in France" at the bottom of the dial. Barrys watch has serial number in the 3500s, mine is in the 7800s.

Thanks to Barry Kurland for the information of his cool vintage Heuer. Still in use after all these years.